Latest 2012 B1G Football Title News

INDIANAPOLIS – Wisconsin spent the better part of the last month hearing about how it didn’t deserve to be in the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game. Now, for the next month, it will hear that it has no business playing in the Rose Bowl, the program’s third consecutive Grandaddy of Them All. That’s just fine by these Badgers, the Rose Bowl’s first five-loss team. “I don’t care,” Dezmen Southward said. “I really don’t care.” And they shouldn’t. Not after Saturday night’s absolutely dominating 70-31 win over previously streaking No. 14 Nebraska. [RELATED: Dienhart: Fitting punctuation mark on season that

INDIANAPOLIS – Could this bizarre 2012 Big Ten season had ended any differently than this? Of course not. Wisconsin’s 70-31 pummeling of Nebraska put a fitting punctuation mark on a season that didn’t go by script. In fact, it went way off script. The Big Ten’s best team—12-0 Ohio State—couldn’t play in the Big Ten title game or go to a bowl because of probation. But it was given a trophy for winning the Leaders Division. Penn State overcame long odds playing with a depleted roster and battling through an 0-2 start to finish 8-4 and in second place in

Check out a few video highlights from Saturday night’s Big Ten Football Championship game. And remember that all of our BTN videos are at BTN.com/video. Wisconsin quarterback Curt Phillips postgame interview with BTN. *** Wisconsin linebackers Mike Taylor and Ethan Armstrong talk with BTN following the big win over Nebraska. *** Bret Bielema joins the BTN crew for a postgame interview. *** Bo Pelini postgame press conference. *** Nebraska’s Kenny Bell laid a big block on Wisconsin’s Devin Smith in the third quarter. The hit was ruled a penalty and nullified a touchdown for Nebraska. *** Wisconsin’s James White passes to

This post is the home for the best photos from the Big Ten Football Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and we’ve added a spectacular video looking at the images of the past football season, too. We’ll be updating the gallery all night. All of our galleries are on our photo gallery archive page. And now, the rest of our photos…

Kickoff of the second Big Ten title game is hours away between Nebraska and Wisconsin. A Big Ten title is on the line, and the winner will play Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Here are four things to watch. 1. Can Curt Phillips pass? It’s basically a given that Nebraska will slide an extra man in the box in an effort to thwart the potent Badger ground game. If the fifth-year senior Wisconsin signal caller can’t make the Huskers pay for committing to stop the run, the Badger offense figures to bog down. [RELATED: Join Tom Dienhart and Brent Yarina

Prior to Saturday’s 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game, the conference hosted its second annual Big Ten Fan Fest at the Indiana Convention Center. There, “#BTNLive” hosted a live show that included interviews with Nebraska legend Tommie Frazier and Michigan’s Taylor Lewan, the 2012 Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, among others. Like last year, the event also featured tons of fan entertainment. See photos of the event in this gallery.

Both coaches in Saturday’s Big Ten Football Championship spoke with our crew in Indianapolis as part of Friday night’s “Big Ten Football Report.” Watch both interviews in this post. Remember: Our coverage continues Saturday with “#BTNLive” from Indianapolis at 11 a.m. ET, our “Championship Pregame Show” at 6:30 p.m., and full post-game coverage after the game. BTN.com will also be live blogging the entire game. Watch Bielema talk to our BTN crew in Indianapolis. Watch Pelini talk to our BTN crew.

Injuries are a key factor in any game, and this game is no different. Nebraska will miss the presence of tackle Baker Steinkuhler on the interior of the defensive line. The Huskers need Chase Rome—among others—to step up with Steinkuhler out. And center Justin Jackson is out. It will be Mark Pelini or Cole Pensick at center. In other news, Wisconsin got good news this week when linebacker Chris Borland was cleared to play after hurting a hamstring against Indiana on Nov. 10, forcing him to miss the last two games. His presence will be key in trying to slow

This Big Ten title game is about more than celebrating the culmination of the season and crowning a conference champ. This Big Ten title game is about validating a program—and validating a coach. I’m talking about Nebraska and Bo Pelini. That’s what’s at stake on Saturday night inside Lucas Oil Stadium—the “House the Peyton Manning Built.” For Nebraska, it hasn’t won a conference championship since defeating Texas, 22-6, in the 1999 Big 12 title game in San Antonio, Texas. Each time I type that fact, I shake my head. But, it’s true. The Cornhuskers played in the BCS title game